The new Polish government of the conservative Law and Justice party has promised to examine the encroachment of hypermarkets into the country's retail sector. However, an element of political calculation is thought to be involved in this: while about 100,000 people are employed in large stores, the retail sector as a whole employs more than 2 million, mainly in small independent shops.

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Retailers across the entertainment industry are thought to be increasingly concerned with the financial health of the market's dominant wholesaler, EUK. The worries surrounding EUK's parent, Woolworths Group, based on the deterioration of its retail arm, have left many retailers fretting over the stock situation for the crucial Christmas period, which could yet lead to radical action.

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With the acquisition of 67 stores, effectively trebling its size, music and video retailer Fopp has taken its aggressive expansion strategy to new heights. However, despite its niche positioning and eclectic product range, Fopp must be confident that in a tough retail market, it has not bitten off more than it can chew.

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Fears of a major slump in the previously buoyant video games market have been realized by a trading update from market leader Game Group. The highly cyclical nature of the sector has been highlighted by the dual release of Game's figures for the 53 weeks to January 31, 2009, in which total UK and Ireland sales were up 25.7%, and for the 11 weeks to April 18, 2009, in which they were down 2.4%.

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Game's current trading has been mixed. While revenue has fallen, the group's gross margin has improved despite increased competition, particularly from the supermarkets. International and online growth, together with softer UK comparatives, should see performance over Christmas improve. However, the real challenge for Game remains how it will cope with the rise of digital distribution.

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Game Group has reported a 24% rise in sales and a massive 400% increase in annual profits as it benefited from a strong market owing to recent hardware releases from Microsoft and Nintendo. Furthermore, with the PS3 launched in the first quarter of its new financial year, 2007/08 looks set to be another bright year for the retailer.

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The leading independent games retailer Game Group has issued a profit warning as gamers waiting for new consoles to arrive on the market hold off on purchases. With limited scope to diversify into other product areas and a growing number of non-specialist competitors encroaching on its territory, Game needs to exploit the festive season to develop an appeal beyond its core customer base.

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Game Group has continued to defy the wider retail downturn, announcing a 22.7% sales uplift in the UK and Ireland for the 50 week period to January 10, and like-for-like growth of 11.4%. With a successful Christmas trading period now over, the group has heralded a change in strategy, which will see it focus on maintaining profits as sales growth becomes increasingly hard to achieve.

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The temporary price drop of Nintendo's next-generation games console, the Wii U, at the start of May to just GBP149 for the basic model at Asda and Amazon signals its failure to prise casual gamers away from smartphone and tablet apps in what is a very worrying start to the console cycle for video game retailers.

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The Office of Fair Trading has stated that it is concerned the purchase of Gamestation by Game Group will result in the loss of competition. However, with large numbers of non-specialist retailers vying for market share growth, the sector is likely to remain as competitive as ever.